For companies, it’s just another marketing opportunity

Everyone has their own idea of how to make the most of the longest day of the year. Stonehenge, that mysterious ancient stone circle southwest of London, always attracts its share of worshippers. More than 20,000 came this year, though those English clouds meant they couldn’t see the sun rise. Here are other ways people and companies around the world are marking the day.

Reuters

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A day to work longer

Olli Rehn, the European Commission’s top economics official, seems to have solving the euro zone’s banking crisis in mind. European Union finance ministers met on Friday to negotiate rules for rescuing or closing failing banks — a tough nut to crack as countries are divided on how strict the new rules should be.

“Midsummer is the longest day of the year, so we have plenty of time,” Rehn quipped about the negotiations, according to Reuters.

A 300-page draft document recommends that bank shareholders will be the first to take losses in a bank rescue, then bondholders and finally depositors with more than 100,000 euros in savings.

FactSet

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A long day to recover

They say time heals all wounds, and markets could definitely use some of that cure. Stock markets tanked globally on Thursday on fears the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon taper its asset purchases. What’s a better time to recover from the biggest recent selloff than the longest day of the year?

For Asian, U.S. and European markets, however, it seemed like the cure needs to be stronger than a delayed sunset. Most markets were lower on Friday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index
HSI, +0.56%
closed at its lowest level since Sept. 13, the Stoxx Europe 600 index
SXXP, +0.03%
ended at its lowest level since Dec. 31, and the 10-year U.S. Treasury note
US:10_YEAR
yield topped 2.5% for the first time since August 2011.

Midsummer madness indeed.

Flickr/f_jensen_at_sdr.vinge

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Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble

In many cultures, midsummer is associated with magic, but not many take it as far as the Danes.

On Skt. Hans eve every June 23 (Sunday this year), Danes gather in parks and on beaches to light bonfires and burn witches — although the magical women are made only out of fabric, hay and firecrackers.

According to legend, the witches on Skt. Hans eve are on their way to Bloksbjerg in Germany, said in the 17th century to be one of their major European meeting points. The bonfires are meant only to scare the witches, and no one is believed to have been burned to death during the midsummer celebrations. However, about 1,000 people are believed to have been burned as witches in Denmark on other days of the year between 1540 and 1639.

Google

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Fun and sun

Google Inc.
GOOG, -1.10%
gets itself into the conversation with an animated doodle that (in the Northern Hemisphere) shows a wave washing over five people, in a nod to the first day of summer and carefree days at the beach.

This one isn’t drawing the controversy that some other doodles have, such as one honoring Cesar Chavez (some wanted an Easter theme), a Valentine’s Day one that included a nod to same-sex couples, and the waving flag covering part of the “e” in a Veterans Day doodle that made the letter look to some like a symbol of Islam.

AFP/Getty Images

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A giant Om

At Times Square in New York, the solstice is all about calmly saluting the sun.

Thousands of people come for a special yoga experience amid the masses, but companies see it as a marketing opportunity. Among them: Gap Inc.’s
GPS, +1.19%
Athleta brand is offering free yoga mats to the first 1,200 to arrive for each of five classes and will host fashion shows throughout the day. Luna, part of privately held Clif Bars & Co., set up a vending machine that can tell yogis which bar is best for their nutritional needs.

Reyka Vodka

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Time for a party

Others prefer to party, and drinks companies are only too happy to market their brands that way. This solstice cocktail, claims vodka maker Reyka Vodka, “speaks to the natural beauty of Iceland in the use of fresh, locally foraged rosemary.”

For those who just care about the drink, here’s the recipe for Up All Night, developed by Lauren Schell of Little Branch, a bar in New York City’s West Village:

1 1/2 oz vodka

1/2 oz rosemary-infused Cognac

3/4 oz lemon juice

1/2 oz cane syrup

Barspoon of Solerno

Whip and strain into an iced Collins glass. Top with soda water. Garnish with a large rosemary sprig.

Blue Mountains Winter Magic Festival

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And more parties

Sometimes, the solstice is just an excuse to bring in the crowds, such as the Winter Magic festival in Katoomba, about 90 minutes from Sydney and at the edge of the Blue Mountains, a World Heritage area. This year’s festival takes place on Saturday.

At the other end of the world is the Downtown Summer Solstice Festival in Anchorage, Alaska, also on Saturday.

ReutersPictured: Nik Wallenda

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Walk the walk

Solstice connection or not, Nik Wallenda, the man who crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope last year, will be walking across the Little Colorado River Gorge near the Grand Canyon on Sunday.

The Niagara spectacular was a hit for ABC, part of Walt Disney Co.
DIS, -0.02%
and attracted an estimated 16 million viewers at the peak of the two-hour broadcast. It also brought in an estimated $3.3 million to businesses in Niagara Falls, N.Y. thanks to the 38,000 who gathered there to watch.

Sunday’s bit of daredevilry, this time without a safety harness, will be shown on Discovery Channel, owned by Discovery Communications Inc.
DISCA, +2.45%
and one of the most widely distributed cable channels in the U.S.

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